petroleum production

Introduction
Prospecting and exploration
- Surface methods
- Gravity and magnetic surveys
- Seismographic methods
  - Offshore seismic acquisition
  - Land-based seismic acquisition
  - Processing and visualization
The oil well
- Drilling
  - Cable tooling
  - The rotary drill
  - The drill pipe
  - The derrick
  - Casing
  - The turbodrill
  - Directional drilling
- Offshore platforms
  - Shallow water
  - Deep and ultradeep water
- Formation evaluation
- Well completion
  - Production tubing
  - Perforating and fracturing
  - Surface valves
Recovery of oil and gas
- Primary recovery: natural drive and artificial lift
- Secondary recovery: injection of gas or water
- Enhanced recovery
  - Miscible methods
  - Thermal methods
- Gas cycling
- Surface equipment
Storage and transport
Safety and the environment

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

Interactive map of oil reserves and total production throughout the world.

Sepia-toned photo of Edwin L. Drake's first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania, showing a tall wooden derrick, a small wooden building, and several men standing nearby.

Related Questions

How are natural gas, crude oil, and bitumen arranged when they occur in the same petroleum deposit?
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External Websites

National Geographic - Encyclopedic Entry - Petroleum

petroleum production

Written by

Priscilla G. McLeroy

Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Program in Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station.

Priscilla G. McLeroyAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

petroleum production, recovery of crude oil and, often, associated natural gas from Earth. Petroleum is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon material that is believed to have formed from animal and vegetable debris in deep sedimentary beds. The petroleum, being less dense than the surrounding water, was expelled from the source beds and migrated upward through porous rock such as sandstone and some limestone until it was finally blocked by nonporous rock such as shale or dense...

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